Layoffs at Quiznos are more extensive than the company revealed recently, affecting dozens of midlevel managers across the country, according to people familiar with the cuts.

The layoffs — approaching 140 people, half from the company’s headquarters in downtown Denver — are part of a larger economic scale-back that comes just months after a new management team was named to run the sub-sandwich chain, several sources said.

Quiznos officials would not confirm the details but generally said any cutbacks were the result of “a slow economy” and a desire to “reduce corporate expense,” according to a statement e-mailed Wednesday to The Denver Post.

Layoffs of managers at the district and regional levels began last week, said the sources, who asked for anonymity because they feared repercussions. One franchisee in Michigan said he learned of the layoffs when he called a regional operations manager assigned to his store for advice — they are problem-solvers for the store owners — only to learn he had been let go.

Another person who was laid off said the cuts came last week without warning. He said that the layoffs were not termed permanent and that there seemed to be a chance he could get his job back, though he was unclear how long the wait might be.

The layoffs appear to be tied to an initiative designed to help franchisees increase profits — or at the minimum reduce expenses — and that hinges on a reduction in the amount stores pay in royalties to the home office.

The company is rebating part of the royalty fee that store owners typically pay weekly, a move that began in December, according to several franchisees. They will now pay 1 percent of a store’s weekly gross revenues after adjustments as the royalty fee. Previously, it had been 7 percent. A 4 percent fee for advertising remains unchanged.

“Quiznos is committed to franchise owner success,” the company said in a statement. “This commitment requires that we operate as efficiently as possible at every level. Continued pressure brought by a slow economy has led the company to make the difficult decision to reduce corporate expense in order to provide additional financial assistance to the franchise owners.”

Upper management changed at Quiznos with the announcement in October that founder and chief executive Rick Schaden had stepped aside for Greg MacDonald, a 12-year veteran of the company and president of its international sector.

The company had revealed in filings last week with Colorado’s labor department that 69 people would be laid off by mid-March, all from headquarters, though it gave no indications of the affected positions.

It cited the reason as part of its “plans to restructure certain operations.”

The company in September announced plans to expand into South America and has expressed a commitment to open 600 new stores in the U.S., many in convenience stores.

David is a member of the Investigations Team and has been at The Denver Post since 1999. He was a founding member of the team before moving on to cover banking, finance, human services, consumer affairs, and business investigations. He has also worked at newspapers in New York, St. Louis and Detroit over a 35-year career.

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